The Maine Ethics Commission on Thursday rejected the National Organization for Marriage’s latest attempt to block an investigation of the group, adding yet another legal twist to a case that has been going since last October.

In a ruling hailed by gay activists, the U.S. Supreme Court on June 24 upheld a law that requires public disclosure of the names of people who signed a petition to put an anti-gay referendum on the ballot in Washington State.

But litigation over the domestic partnership battle may not yet be finished and may be back before the court in a year or so.

The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) has been ordered by the 1st District federal court of appeals in Boston to provide Maine state election officials with information about the group’s donors.

U.S. Magistrate Judge John Rich III said in a document dated Sunday that the National Organization for Marriage, which contributed $1.9 million to the campaign to repeal Maine's marriage equality law, should turn over fundraising documents dating back to Jan. 1, 2009, to the Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices.

The Los Angeles Times editorial board applauds Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia for his criticism of those attempting to prevent the release of the names of those who signed petitions to put Referendum 71 on the ballot in Washington state.